Snow guards, also called snow brakes, are used for preventing large sheets of ice or snow from sliding and falling from roofs, harming persons standing nearby or striking objects below such as shrubbery, cars or property located about the roof drip.
Typically, snow and ice accumulated on a roof melts or its weight causes it to fall. The snow may melt from above by warmth from the sun, or from below by warmth from the roof. Water flows through the snow and runs along the roof and drips off edges of the roof. Such water frequently causes loss of adhesion between the remaining snow and ice and the roof.
Particularly on standing seam metal roofs, or any metal roof with raised seams, the water makes the roof surface slick, causing heavy sheets of snow or ice to slide along the roof. Snow guards are used so that the snow bank or ice sheets formed on the roof are retained until they melt or slide off the roof in small pieces. Snow guards have been designed for attaching to the flat surface of the roof, and some snow guards have been designed for attaching to the roof seams. Many of the snow guard designs found in the prior art are fashioned to affix to such seams by attachment means which either puncture or deform the roofing material substantially in the operation of the device. Other snow guard devices found in the prior art are of designs which require multiple parts to function.
Multi-part snow guards are relatively expensive. Snow guards which attach to the flat surface of the roof make holes through the roof and promote water entry and destruction of the roof and its supporting surface. Snow guards which use adhesives to mount to the roof can work loose from exposure to the elements, discolor the roofing materials and are not generally preferred. Snow guards which attach to the seams of roofs can penetrate the seams or tend to deform the seams unnecessarily for locking the snow guards on the roof. Examples of such snow guards can be found in prior art which provides for recesses or detents in the construction of the snow brake, which are designed to accept the deformed seam.
A need exists for snow guards which may be easily and inexpensively constructed, and which provide adequate support for snow and adequate locking to formed seams without utilizing substantial deformation of the seams as the primary anchoring point for retention of the snow brake.